DRI Products & Applications

Forms of DRI Products

DRI is the steel industry’s most flexible metallic charge material, and the MIDREX® Process can produce, discharge and transport DRI in the form best suited to the application.

Cold DRI (CDRI): The first MIDREX® Plants produced DRI that was cooled prior to discharge. This product is mainly used in EAF applications and has a tendency to re-oxidize in wet environments if not properly handled and stored.

Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI): As the benefits of DRI use became more widely known, a product form that was considered safe for ocean shipping by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) was needed. The result was HBI, a DRI product hot discharged from the MIDREX® Shaft Furnace into a roller-type press that molds the reduced material into dense pillow-shaped briquettes. This product is used in EAFs, blast furnaces and BOFs.

Hot DRI (HDRI): Discharging hot DRI (HDRI) as a product from a DRI furnace was the next progressive step for Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steelmakers. This product is similar to CDRI physically, yet contains heat from the reduction process to help make EAF operations more efficient and productive.

Combination Discharge is an additional option, in the case that a producer needs more than one type of product. MIDREX® Plants can be switched from one DRI form to another with no disruption of product flow - CDRI to HBI, CDRI to HDRI, or HDRI to HBI. Product can be produced simultaneously in any combination.